Lakers Expected To Trade Russell Westbrook For $22 Million All-Star & $19 Million Wing

The Los Angeles Lakers are actively looking for a trade partner and they may soon replace Russell Westbrook with an All-Star.

Andy Bailey from Bleacher Report discussed the Lakers’ trade negotiations with the Utah Jazz. According to his September 15 piece, Westbrook will go to Utah and Conley will travel to LA. Of course, Bojan Bogdanovic is part of the game.

“There is plenty of motivation for both Utah and L.A. to find a suitable trade,” Bailey wrote. “The Jazz should want to lose. A lot. But that isn’t all that the first season of a rebuild should accomplish. On-court development and reps for the new young (or young-ish) core of players that includes Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, Ochai Agbaji, Walker Kessler and more should be a priority. Having Conley, Bogdanovic, (Jordan) Clarkson and (Rudy) Gay on the roster doesn’t necessarily make that impossible, but it at least makes it trickier. Moving some combination of them for picks and buying out the last year of Westbrook’s deal clears the path for youth and lineup experimentation.”

Lakers could swap Russell Westbrook for an All-Star

Jeff Zillgitt from USA TODAY reported that the Lakers have shown great interest in Conley and Bogdanovic. These two make perfect sense for the current Lakers team. Conley did 40.8% from beyond the arc this past season, all while shooting 169 3-pointers. Bogdanovic had 181 3-pointers and went 38.7%.

Here’s the catch. The Jazz won’t get Westbrook unless Pelinka adds a couple of first-rounders in the mix. Their players will sure work well alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

“Being able to deploy a Conley-Beverley-Bogdanovic-James-Davis lineup may not put the Lakers in the same tier as teams like the Golden State Warriors, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks or Phoenix Suns right away, but it would get them far closer than they are right now,” Bailey wrote. “In that situation, LeBron and AD would once again be the unquestioned focal points, as they were in 2020. And they’d be surrounded by plenty of shooting. If LeBron hasn’t already had his last real shot at a championship, there aren’t many left. L.A. has to go for it.”